Metered dispensing container



Aug. 25, 1964 S. VLOCK ET AL Filed May 21, 1962 METERED DISPENSING CONTAINER INVENTORS Sidney Vlock BY Mark Vlock C l/1Z9; Mz/i/I/dSdf/Ii ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,145,885 METERED DISPENSING CONTAINER Sidney Vlock, Bronx, and Mark Vlock, Woodstock, N.Y., assignors to Portion Control Company of America, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 21, 1962, Ser. No. 196,192 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-455) This invention relates to metered dispensing from containers or the like, and more in particular to containers for granular, powdered or liquid products having spouts through which measured quantities of the product can be dispensed.

An object of this invention is to provide improved metering spouts for containers. A further object is to provide containers which may be used to dispense measured quantities of bulk or pourable products. A further object is to provide for the above with simple and sturdy constructions which are inexpensive to manufacture and which are adaptable to various conditions of use. These and other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out below.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention; and

FIGURE 2 is the blank from which the metering and dispensing unit of FIGURE 1 is formed.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, a paperboard container 2 contains a granular product and has a metering and dispensing chamber or unit 4 glued to the underside of its top Wall 5. Top wall 5 has an opening 6 which is formed by the lifting or removal of a tab or flap 8, which is outlined by lines of perforation. The tab or flap 8 may be completely removed or left hinged and then folded down to cover the opening 6 when the container is not in use.

Unit 4 has side walls 14, 16, 18 and 20, and is separated into two compartments 10 and 12 by a partition 22 which is cut away near its bottom to provide a passageway 24 which permits the product to move from compartment 12 to compartment 10. Side wall 18 is cut away at its top to provide a window 26 which allows entry of the product into compartment 12. Walls 14, 16 and 20 have integral flaps 28, 30 and 32, respectively, which are glued to the underside of the container top wall 5.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the metering and dispensing unit 4 is formed of a single blank of paperboard. Portion 14 of the blank forms wall 14 of the chamber 4, and portions 34 and 36 are folded over so as to be parallel to one another and are glued together, thereby forming partition 22 which separates compartments 10 and 12 from one another. Portions 38 and 40 of the blank are glued to portion 20 to form wall 20, portion 18 forms Wall 18, and portions 42 and 44 of the blank about one another to form Wall 16. Flaps 46 through 54 are folded over and glued together to form the bottom walls of the unit 4.

The two compartments 10 and 12 have approximately the same dimensions. Compartment 10 is directly below opening 6 and serves to hold and receive a measured quantity of the product and deliver it from opening 6. Compartment 12 adjoins compartment 10 and helps meter the product into compartment 10.

Metered delivery of the granular product is achieved with the above construction as follows. Assuming that compartments 10 and 12 contain none of the product, compartment 12 is initially filled by inverting the container 2, the product flowing from the interior of the container 2, through window 26, and into compartment 12. The container is then returned to its upright position; this results in the product flowing through the passageway 24 into the bottom of the compartment 10. However, the product does not flow above the top edge of the passageway 24, and therefore the compartment 10 receives and contains a measured quantity of the product. The container is then inverted again, and this measured quantity in compartment 10 is dispensed through opening 6. Thereafter, whenever the container is uprighted and then inverted, a similar measured quantity will flow from compartmuent 12 to compartment 10 and will be dispensed through opening 6. Window 26 and passageway 24, and compartments 10 and 12 are of a size to provide the desired measured quantity for each dispensing operation.

As various embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as changes may be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that the matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted illustratively and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

In a construction for storing and dispensing metered quantities of products capable of flowing, the combination of, a paperboard container adapted to store said product, said container having a top wall adapted to provide an opening through which said product may be dispensed, and a metering and dispensing unit formed of substantially a single sheet of paperboard folded along parallel lines and having nine wall panels divided from each other by fold lines with the central wall panel being of substantially twice the width of the other wall panels and with the other Wall panels of substantially the same width, the wall panels in the two groups of four upon the opposite sides of said central wall panel being formed into foursided tubular portions with the end wall panels abutting side by side against said central wall panel and with said common wall being formed by the two wall panels next to the end wall panels, said unit being positioned within said container, said unit having first and second compartments which are substantially rectangular in horizontal cross-section with a common wall between them, said common wall having an opening at its bottom through which a metered portion of the product flows from said second compartment into said first compartment when said container is turned from an inverted position to an upright position, said second compartment also having at the top of its side wall opposite said common wall a window through which a portion of said product flows from said container into said second compartment when said container is turned from an upright position to an inverted position, said first compartment having a top dispensing outlet, coincident with said opening in said top wall, through which a metered portion of said product is dispensed when said container is turned from an upright position to an inverted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,393,262 Percy -1 Jan. 22, 1946 2,425,142 Brubaker Aug. 5, 1947 3,052,385 Tindall Sept. 4, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 562,012 Belgium Nov. 14, 1957 1,231,371 France Sept. 28, 1960 

